The future´s bright
She’s the 24-year-old star striker of the Women’s Super League and baby-faced assassin of the Lionesses. As Alessia Russo prepares to head down under for the World Cup, she opens up to WH about prioritising strong over skinny, pushing for pay parity with the men’s game and why there’s a place for pampering off the pitch
True star quality can be hard to quantify. It’s not loud or affected. It’s the alchemical cream off the top when talent meets character and is combined with an easy charm. And it’s something our cover star – walking into Gail’s wearing a shoulder-padded bomber jacket and Prada sunglasses – has by the gallon.
Alessia Maria Teresa Russo is walking tall – and with good reason. Within the past year, she’s become a European champion with England. Her backheel finish in the semi-final was nominated for a Fifa award and she was named player of the year at the Women’s Football Awards, while Manchester United also crowned her their MVP.
Days later, however, Alessia announced she was leaving her girlhood club. ‘I’ve given my best in the hope that one day, I can leave the shirt in a better place for those who come next,’ she wrote. ‘I’m going to miss my teammates, the fans and the staff at the club so much.’ Ever since Alessia declined to extend her contract earlier this year – and Arsenal made not one but two world record-breaking bids for the striker – speculation about her next move has been unrelenting. The chatter only intensified the spotlight that’s illuminated her fast, ferocious attacking style since the Euros. One fan’s sign said it all: ‘Who needs Messi when you have Lessi?’
She’s diplomatic when I broach the speculation about her club future during our sit-down interview in April, saying, ‘It’s tough, obviously, to look too far ahead.’ Seven weeks later, as this issue was going to press and news of her departure broke, I was told that no new club deal had been signed. (Although – Gunners rejoice – the rumour mill seems to indicate that Alessia will be heading to north London.)
I get the sense she’ll currently be trying to tune out the noise – and focus instead on her next big job: this summer’s Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. ‘It’s another huge opportunity to go out there and hopefully create more history, but the [standard of the] women’s game is higher than ever. So, there will be lots of teams going there with that same ambition… I think that’s what’s going to make it such a great tournament,’ she says.
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